


love, i got it bad for you

by ellalopez



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Carulia, F/F, Fluff, julethief, me not writing angst for these two? a shocker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:21:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28824366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellalopez/pseuds/ellalopez
Summary: it strikes her, suddenly, jolting awake in the middle of the night, carmen curled up at her side. she doesn’t even move, mumbling in her slightly disturbed sleep.“jules,” she hums, snuggling tighter into her. “get back to sleep.”“sorry, love. just thought of something,” she says softly, looking down at the girl in her arms. she runs her fingers absentmindedly through her hair, and carmen practically purrs from the touch.“我爱你,” julia whispers.i love you.carmen stirs, but doesn’t respond. moments later, she’s snoring, having fallen back to sleep, and julia just holds her close, heart hammering in her chest.well. telling her in mandarin was one way to do it.-OR, julia keeps telling carmen she loves her in mandarin, not knowing that she learned chinese when she was younger and understands exactly what she's saying.
Relationships: Julia "Jules" Argent & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Julia "Jules" Argent/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 25
Kudos: 499





	love, i got it bad for you

**Author's Note:**

> thought i'd offer y'all this fluffy piece while angst is brewing in the other fic :)

**HERE’S** a fact: Carmen Sandiego loves Julia Argent.

It’s not a surprise to anyone, really. While the two have only been together for a couple months (and it could’ve begun much earlier if one of them wasn’t running around the world), the way Carmen’s entire being seems to light up whenever Julia walks in the room proves it enough. Her eyes always crinkle at the corners and she _beams,_ so bright and wide and sunny that Julia finds it hard to breathe, sometimes. Whatever greeting she’d planned on saying dies in her throat and she just stares, smiling right back, lovestruck, until Ivy or Zack or even Shadowsan coughs to get their attention. 

...because here’s another fact: Julia loves Carmen too.

She loves her through sharp banter and quick witted remarks, through their shared love of ancient history and exchanging tidbits of knowledge back and forth. She loves her so much it hits her right in the soul, a lot more often than she’d like to admit. Her heart aches and beats for the thief in the red coat- (God, she looked _good_ in that coat)- and she hates to say it, the terribly cliché phrase Carmen would break up with her for, but she’s stolen her heart.

(She thinks she’s had it since the day they met on the train, quietly taking it with her as she went to chase the Magna Carta.)

It’s terrifying how hard she’s fallen, in all honesty. She doesn’t know how to handle it and somehow miraculously just gets by with stupid smiles and forehead kisses. Those three words itch at her with every passing day, and she wants to tell her but it’s so _soon-_ are they even ready? Would she scare her off? Carmen never did back down from anything, but this wasn’t a fight against other thieves that she could win. This was _them,_ and the relationship Julia didn’t want to lose after waiting for so long.

If only there was a way she could tell her without saying the words-

And it strikes her, suddenly, jolting awake in the middle of the night, Carmen curled up at her side. She doesn’t even move, mumbling in her slightly disturbed sleep.

“Jules,” she hums, snuggling tighter into her. “Get back to sleep.”

“Sorry, love. Just thought of something,” she says softly, looking down at the girl in her arms. She runs her fingers absentmindedly through her hair, and Carmen practically purrs from the touch.

“我爱你,” Julia whispers. _I love you._ Carmen stirs, but doesn’t respond. Moments later, she’s snoring, having fallen back to sleep, and Julia just holds her close, heart hammering in her chest.

Well. Telling her in Mandarin was one way to do it.

~*~

Carmen slams the bathroom door closed. It’s the next morning, and Julia’s making breakfast, the sweet toasted smell of bagels and sharp sizzling bacon weaving through the air.

“You alright over there?” Julia calls. “No need to take it out on the door hinges.”

“I’m good!” she yells back, and she _is_ , so so good and doing just peachy but she’s _also_ one step away from exploding. She had to tell someone, oh my God, what the _fuck-_

She turns on her comms. A click on Player’s side and he comes through, mid yawn. 

“Morning, Red,” he greets her, presumably stabbing into his own breakfast from the sounds she can make out. “I was under the impression that this was prime, and I quote, ‘domestic girlfriend behaviour’ time, but I guess I was wrong? What’s got you tuning in so early?”

Carmen snorts at the reference. Ivy and Zack had dubbed it that when they tried to talk to her a few weeks ago one morning, grumpy, without coffee and no good morning kiss from Julia. _Jules._ Her wonderful, amazing, brilliant girlfriend who literally _fucking-_

“Player. Holy _shit,”_ Carmen hisses, her voice low in case her girlfriend can hear her. “Something happened yesterday night and I’m freaking the f- uh, hell, out.”

“I’m almost 20 and I’ve been on the literal dark web, Red. You can drop the f-bomb.” 

There’s another stab at the pancake or piece of toast he’s eating, and rustling, like he’s crossed his arms. She paces around the bathroom, well aware that she looks a bit like a mess considering she hasn’t brushed her hair yet.

“Yeah, okay, fuck. Jules said she loved me when she thought I was asleep but I was only half and I heard her and I didn’t respond but that’s not too important right now because what the fuck, Player, _she loves me?”_ She blurts it out in one go, hardly believing what she’s saying herself. Player chuckles, lounging back in his chair.

“You’ve got it so bad, Red,” is all he says, stifling laughter. Carmen burns pink from mild embarrassment.

“Shut up, I know I do. Listen, I love her too, _duh,_ but I can’t tell her I heard her because she really believed that I couldn’t, and she said it in a whole other language too so I wasn’t supposed to know she did-”

“Pause. A whole other language?” Player asks, intrigued. Carmen nods aggressively, though it’s not like he can see her.

“In Mandarin. 我爱你,” she echoes Julia’s words, the language flowing effortlessly off her tongue. “It was really sweet, like she _woke up_ just to say it. I couldn’t just _say_ that V.I.L.E had been insane overachievers that hired fifty different language tutors just so I’d be able to communicate in any part of the world to fuel their criminal reign, could I?”

 _“Fifty,_ _”_ Player deadpans, ignoring the rest of her sentence. Carmen stops pacing and lingers on the thought. She _did_ have a lot of teachers.

“Give or take? V.I.L.E Academy was… not your usual school, as you know. I’m not mad about it, though, because now I know Jules loves me.” She’s borderline swooning at this point, but she doesn’t care, not when it comes to Julia.

“Was it not obvious before?” Player replies, fork twirling in his hands. “She quit A.C.M.E for you, didn’t she?”

“She quit that unappreciative, not so secret organization because she wanted to be a history professor, not for _me!_ ”

“Riiiight. Sure,” Player rolls his eyes, unconvinced in the slightest. “Why don’t I just call her and ask her to set the record straight?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Carmen gasps in mock offense. Sure enough, Julia’s cell phone starts ringing from their room in the apartment, and she yelps.

“Player! No, you _didn’t-_ ”

Carmen hurriedly washes her hands, grabs her hairbrush off the counter and starts untangling her hair painfully. She tries to look impassive as she walks out of the bathroom, grimacing as she keeps tugging at her split ends. She succeeds at last in making her hair look less like a bird’s nest, and she tosses the brush aside, heading into the kitchen. She’s just in time to catch the tail end of Player and Julia’s conversation.

“...Yes, Chief did ask me to get my head in the game, which was the new ‘capturing Carmen’ mission she’d set us all on. I refused, because helping to take down a criminal organization was what I signed up for, not hunting down someone on the side of good. My heart wasn’t in it anymore.”

Carmen wraps her arms around her girlfriend lazily, pressing a kiss to the curve of her neck. Julia lets out a soft laugh, shifting the phone by her ear to kiss her back on the lips.

“Good morning,” she murmurs, and lets the thief steal one more kiss before making her get coffee and breakfast. Julia places Player on speaker and continues eating, finishing up her bagel.

“I can’t believe you actually called her,” Carmen grouches from the counter, her not-quite frown hidden behind the rim of the mug she’s sipping from. “The high praise at eight in the morning is certainly doing wonders for my self esteem, though.”

“Saying you’re on the side of good is high praise?” Julia asks, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Anything is when it’s from you,” she answers smoothly, loving the way Julia’s face heats up and red dusts her cheeks. Her colour had always suited her.

“Flattery gets you nowhere,” Julia says finally, but she’s grinning, and Player makes his presence known by gagging in exaggeration from his side of the call.

“Kid’s still in the room, lovebirds.”

“So now you’re too young for this?” Carmen teases, sliding her plate onto the table and taking her seat next to her girlfriend. Julia just smiles, squeezing her shoulder as she gets up to put away her dishes.

“I’m regretting calling now when you’re both sleepy and being sappy,” Player huffs, clearing his plates as well. “How do Ivy and Zack handle you two?”

Julia laughs from where she’s standing by the sink, meeting Carmen’s eyes from across the kitchen.

“They don’t, we handle ourselves,” Carmen singsongs. “You should’ve seen their faces when they caught us kissing during a mission.” Ivy had screeched so loudly it caused Zack to screech as well, not knowing what was going on and being scared to death. It cost them their Plan A escape plan, but it was worth it to see Ivy wheezing as they ran outside, bombarding them with questions. Zack just blinked at her owlishly and tried to keep up with his sister’s rambling.

“I do recall my eardrums being temporarily rattled,” Player says. “Alright, I’ll leave you guys to it. Red, call me back when Ivy and Zack are awake, and in the meantime, I’ll start scanning for any activity from the remaining V.I.L.E operatives.”

“Awesome, see you then, Player.”

The call cuts off, allowing a comfortable silence to settle over the room. Sunlight’s streaming in through the windows, giving them both some kind of incandescent glow, and Julia sighs at the way the light hits Carmen’s hair, turning it to fire. Placing the clean dishes on the rack, she heads back to the table and kisses the top of her head.

Quietly, she repeats the words from the night before. “我爱你.”

Carmen chokes, disguising it as a cough and reaching for her coffee. “Did you say something, Jules?” she asks, once she recovers. Julia looks at her, concerned, and tilts her chin up gently.

“Nothing important,” she reassures her. “I’ll tell you later.”

~*~

Julia doesn’t tell her later, not what the words mean or what language she’s speaking. She’s certain Carmen has forgotten about it, or is waiting for her to make the move and tell her when she’s ready. She loves her for it, the unwavering patience she has for her.

“You ready, Jules?” Carmen is saying, yelling over the noise of the traffic surrounding them. Paper Star’s been spotted in this area, according to surveillance images from both Player and A.C.M.E, who helps out their team when they need backup. Julia gives her a nod in affirmation, double checking to see if her gas gun and comms are on. Zack and Ivy have taken up guard on two possible exits of the museum, if Paper Star is somehow able to get outside.

“Go get her, Crimson Ghost.” Carmen groans at the nickname, but Julia grins, knowing she secretly doesn’t mind. “I’ll be right behind you. Be careful, okay? We don’t know what new tricks she might have up her sleeves.”

“When am I not?” Carmen’s already running, climbing and swinging onto the rooftops with ease. “What is she going to do, anyway? Pull a rabbit out of a hat?”

Julia laughs and sprints after her, tracing her route from the ground. “Even rabbits bite when provoked. Stay safe for me, love. I’ll meet you inside.”

“Yeah, yeah. Only because you asked so nicely,” Carmen smiles, landing soundly on the roof of the museum. She clicks the comms off, leaving Julia to confess her love to the wind once more.

~*~

Paper Star gets a little tied up after her encounter with Carmen, bounded by red rope at the entrance steps. She’s scowling, spitting useless threats and curses at them as they wait for A.C.M.E to arrive and take her to join the others. Julia looks at her after a particularly harsh insult, amused, and nudges her girlfriend with her shoulder playfully.

“Told you rabbits could bite.”

“Please,” Carmen scoffs. “She’s too tied up at the moment to be doing any biting.”

“Fuck you,” Paper Star seethes, still trying to get out of the ropes. In a way, Julia admires how persistent she is, even if her past seven attempts didn’t work. A few minutes go by, and the A.C.M.E vans pull into the parking lot, tires screeching onto the pavement. Carmen waves at the operative, fingers flexing in her black gloves.

“It was nice seeing you again, Origami,” she quips. “Such a shame it wasn’t on better terms.”

“When I get out, I’ll make _sure_ I’ll never see you again, _Black Sheep,”_ she fires back. The old codename is a low blow, and Carmen momentarily falters, but Julia is there to steady her.

“You won’t be getting out any time soon, Paper Star.” Julia’s voice is firm, and she directs the agents over to take her away. “We’d catch you even if you did.”

Paper Star lunges at them as she gets hauled up. Both Julia and Carmen stand their ground, gazing at her coolly. With no reaction out of them, she slumps forward in defeat and lets them drag her to the transport car.

“Is it bad that the codename still affects me?” Carmen asks, once she’s gone and it’s just the two of them holding each other in the dark.

“Not at all,” Julia replies instantly. “A horrible, horrible place gave you that name, and you have every right to be affected by it. You’ve also made a life out of a new name you chose for yourself, an extraordinary one at that. I’m proud of you.”

Carmen sniffles and gives her a watery smile. “You believe in me too much, Jules.”

“I’ll always believe in you.” She kisses her, loving how Carmen’s lips automatically meet her own. “我爱你,” she says breathlessly, not expecting the response she gets in return.

“我也爱你，我的珠宝, 你是我的一切,” Carmen answers, slipping up before she can stop herself. _I love you too, my jewels, you are everything to me._ Julia gapes at her, eyes wide and pupils dilated.

“You- you _know,”_ she says, her tone not accusatory but soft, her heart in her throat. “You understood me all those times, didn’t you?”

“Blame V.I.L.E?” Carmen shrugs sheepishly, and Julia just keeps staring at her, waiting for her explanation. “They hired a bunch of tutors so I’d be their clever, fluent prodigy, and Chinese, both Cantonese and Mandarin, was a part of that curriculum.”

“I can’t say I approve of V.I.L.E dumping so much on you at that age, nor can I say I approve of V.I.L.E as a whole, but…”

Julia rests her hands on the back of Carmen’s neck, and the thief leans into the touch, bumping their foreheads together. “I love you,” she says, in English this time, exhaling shakily.

Carmen’s arm slides around her waist, bringing them impossibly closer. Her eyes are shining and Julia swears she can see the stars in them as she speaks. “I love you too, Jules.”


End file.
